Beyond the Headlines - Pinecastle FUDS Orlando

Pinecastle Jeep Range Formerly Used Defense Site

Responses to statements in the article:
Pinecastle Jeep Range Formerly Used Defense Site: World War II-era ammunition detonated in Orlando

WFTV.com, Channel 9 News Friday, July 26, 2013

Quote: “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found the ammunition in several areas, including Odyssey Middle School, Tivoli Gardens and Lee Vista Square.”
 
Fact: The munitions that were detonated in Orlando on Friday, July 26 were found on Odyssey Middle School property only.
 
Quote: “They detonated the explosives that had been buried under one of the schools…The Army Corps of Engineers detonated the decades-old munitions buried under Odyssey Middle School.”
 
Fact: There is only one school – Odyssey Middle School – involved in the current remedial action. The munitions that were recovered and destroyed on Friday, July 26 were recovered from burial pits near the athletic track on the school property. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is not searching under the school building as technology does not exist that can detect buried metallic objects under buildings.
 
Quote:  “It's the second time in five years that explosives buried at the World War II bombing range were destroyed.”

Fact: This is the second period of time (the first was in 2007-08) during which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has conducted remedial actions and removed some recovered munitions by detonation, or blowing them up in place. The Corps follows a thorough process prescribed by law, which requires investigating, studying alternatives, preparing a Proposed Plan that evaluates and recommends alternatives, consulting with state and local agencies and producing a signed Decision Document. During this process, should a potential imminent risk to human safety or the environment be identified, the Corps may perform a Time Critical Removal Action, to immediately remove that imminent risk. Removal actions at the former Pinecastle Jeep Range in 2007-08 were conducted under a Time Critical Removal Action, while the Corps simultaneously worked through the sequential process. The current work is simply the implementation of the removal actions recommended and approved for the area known as Demonstration Range North, which includes Odyssey Middle School and the properties in Tivoli Gardens and Lee Vista Square not previously investigated absent property owner permission to access.
 
Quote: “The Army Corps of Engineers said it will work to clean up areas near 56 homes in Lee Vista Square and Tivioli Gardens this fall.”
 
Fact: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently conducting remedial actions at Odyssey Middle School and will conduct investigations on 12 parcels in Tivoli Gardens and 129 parcels in Lee Vista Square that were not previously investigated absent property owner permission to access. Permission to access all of the remaining properties in Tivoli Gardens has been obtained, and the Corps continues to work to obtain rights of entry for properties in Lee Vista Square, where to date approximately 60 percent have been received. It is expected that all current remedial work will be completed by fall.